Japan Permanent Residency Points: How Many You Need and When You Can Apply

Permanent residency (永住許可) is the point at which Japan stops asking you to renew. The ordinary route takes ten years. The Highly Skilled Professional (高度専門職) points system is the fast lane: 80 points lets you apply after one year, 70 points after three. So the practical question is not "am I a 高度専門職?" but "how many points do I have, and when can I apply for PR?"

The points table is public and mechanical, which makes it worth scoring yourself before you talk to anyone. It is also where the surprises live: two people with the same salary can score ten points apart, a patent is worth 20 points in one category and nothing in another, and a salary that looks generous for your age can earn zero salary points because the floor rises with age.

The companion calculator on this site applies every row of the official table to all three activity categories at once and tells you which PR route you land on. This article explains the route, the numbers behind it, the other requirements that points never replace, and the traps.

Which route to permanent residency are you on?

Under the Immigration Services Agency's permanent residence guideline the standard route is generally ten years in Japan, at least five of them on a work status (technical intern and Specified Skilled Worker 1 do not count) or a residence status. Everything below is a shortcut around that ten years, not around the other requirements.

80 points or more: apply after one year. 70 to 79 points: apply after three years. In both cases you either hold the status as a highly skilled professional with that score for the whole period, or you show that you scored at least that much at the reference date — one year or three years before the application — and have kept at least that score since.

Other shortcuts exist, and they do not depend on points. The spouse of a Japanese national or permanent resident can apply after three years of marriage and one year in Japan. A Long-term Resident (定住者) can apply after five years, and so can someone whose contribution to Japan is recognized. J-Skip (特別高度人材) holders can apply after one year. Below 70 points and outside those routes, the ten-year rule applies.

The requirements every route shares

The points only change how long you wait. The guideline's three legal requirements apply on every route. First, good conduct (素行善良): you obey the law and live without socially reprehensible conduct, with no fines or prison sentences. Second, an independent livelihood: assets or skills that keep you off public support and make your future living look stable. Third, that your permanent residence is in Japan's interest, which includes the following.

Public duties paid properly: taxes, public pension and public health insurance premiums, and your immigration notifications. Late payment counts against you even if everything is settled by the time you apply — a premium paid after its original due date is generally viewed negatively. This is the requirement that most often sinks a point-perfect applicant.

Your current status must carry the longest period of stay allowed for it (until 31 March 2027, a three-year period is treated as the longest), must meet the criteria it was granted under, and you must not be a public-health risk. Spouses and children of Japanese nationals, permanent residents or special permanent residents are exempt from the conduct and livelihood tests.

The application also needs a guarantor (身元保証人), normally a Japanese national, permanent resident or special permanent resident living in Japan. The fee is ¥200,000 when permission is granted (¥10,000 for applications received up to 30 September 2026; some applicants qualify for a reduced ¥20,000). Standard processing is four to six months. File before your period of stay ends; if it runs out while the application is pending, you must file a renewal separately.

What the 高度専門職 status gives you along the way

高度専門職 1号 comes with a five-year period of stay — the longest available for a work-related status — and permission to combine activities that would otherwise need separate statuses. A spouse can work without the usual restriction on activity type, and parents or domestic helpers can be brought in under conditions set by the Immigration Services Agency.

The practical prize is the permanent residency shortcut described above: 70 points cuts the standard ten years to three, 80 points to one. That is why people keep a spreadsheet — the score has to be held, or demonstrated at the earlier reference date.

After three years on 1号, a holder can change to 高度専門職 2号: an indefinite period of stay with the activity restrictions largely removed. The status exists to stop people re-qualifying every renewal.

Three categories, three different tables

The category is defined by the work in the contract, not by the employer or the job title.

(イ) 高度学術研究 is research, research guidance or education under a contract with a Japanese public or private organization — university posts, research institutes.

(ロ) 高度専門・技術 is work that uses knowledge or skills in the natural sciences or humanities: engineering, IT, finance, law, design, and most of what people mean by a professional job in Japan.

(ハ) 高度経営・管理 is running or managing a business: directors and managers, including the founder of a company they run.

The tables diverge in ways that decide cases. A patented invention is 20 points in (イ), 15 in (ロ), and does not exist in (ハ). Research funding and papers are only in (イ) and (ロ). A Japanese national qualification is only in (ロ). Age points are only in (イ) and (ロ); business management has no age row at all. And the salary scales differ completely: (イ) and (ロ) share a table that tops out at 40 points for ¥10m, while (ハ) starts at ¥10m for 10 points and pays 50 for ¥30m.

You cannot choose the table that flatters you. The activity decides, and the Immigration Services Agency examines whether the activity matches. What the calculator's side-by-side view shows is how much the same person's score depends on the classification — useful when your role genuinely sits between two of them.

The four rows that do most of the work

Academic background: doctorate 30, master's 20, bachelor's 10. In (ロ) and (ハ) an MBA or MOT is worth 25. Degrees in more than one field add 5, once. The most recent qualification applies, so a doctorate replaces a master's rather than stacking with it.

Professional career, in the work you intend to do: (イ) pays 15/10/5 for 7/5/3 years; (ロ) pays 20/15/10/5 for 10/7/5/3; (ハ) pays 25/20/15/10 for the same four thresholds. Experience in an unrelated field does not count.

Annual salary: for (イ) and (ロ), ¥10m or more is 40 points, then 35, 30, 25, 20, 15 and 10 at ¥1m steps down to ¥4m. The catch is the floor. Up to 29 you start earning salary points at ¥4m; at 30–34 the floor is ¥5m; at 35–39, ¥6m; from 40, ¥7m. Below the floor you get nothing, however senior you are. (ハ) uses its own scale: ¥10m 10, ¥15m 20, ¥20m 30, ¥25m 40, ¥30m 50.

Age: 15 points up to 29, 10 at 30–34, 5 at 35–39, nothing from 40. In (イ) and (ロ) the age row interacts with the salary floor, so turning 40 can cost five age points and move the salary floor up by ¥1m at the same time.

One condition sits outside the points: in (ロ) and (ハ) the annual salary must be at least ¥3m to qualify at all. Below that, a 90-point profile is still not eligible. (イ) has no such absolute floor.

Salary here means the annual remuneration the accepting organization will pay you for the work in question, including bonuses — not what you earned last year, and not a figure you hope to reach. If you transfer from an overseas office, the overseas remuneration counts too.

Research, language and the bonus rows

Research achievements are generous but capped. In (イ), a patented invention, three or more competitive government research grants obtained before entering Japan, three or more papers as first or corresponding author in indexed journals, or other research recognised by the Minister of Justice are each 20 points — but two or more of them gives 25 in total, not 40. In (ロ) each is 15 and they add up.

Japanese ability: N1 (or a BJT score of 480+, or a degree with a Japanese major from a foreign university) is 15. N2 (or BJT 400+) is 10, and does not stack with the 10 points for graduating from a Japanese university or graduate school. N1 does stack with it.

The employer rows are where prepared applicants gain most: 10 points for working at an organization receiving innovation-promotion support measures, another 10 if that organization is also a small or medium-sized enterprise, 10 for a local-government HSP support organization, 5 for an SME spending more than 3% of revenue on research. Add 10 for graduating from one of the designated universities (top 300 in at least two world rankings, Top Global, or Innovative Asia partner), 10 for an advanced project in a growth field, 5 for JICA Innovative Asia training, and 5 for a foreign qualification or award recognised by the Minister of Justice.

Two investment rows: 10 points for working in investment management business in (ロ) and (ハ), and 5 points in (ハ) for investing ¥100m or more in the business in Japan. In (ロ), a Japanese national qualification or listed IT exam is 5 points for one and 10 for two or more.

Holding 70 and 80 points

Seventy points qualifies you for 高度専門職. Eighty does not change the status; it changes the permanent residency timeline from three years to one.

Points only count at the moments the Immigration Services Agency checks them, so plan around those dates: the score at the reference date (three years or one year before you apply), and the score you keep from then until the decision. A pay cut, a change of employer that loses a bonus row, or an age band that moves the salary floor can all change the total in between. Re-run the calculator whenever one of those changes.

Remember what the score cannot do: it does not make up for late tax or pension payments, a missing guarantor or a status without the longest period of stay. Those requirements are covered above, and they apply however high the points are.

Three worked examples

Maya, 31, backend engineer in Tokyo. Category (ロ); master's; six years of experience; ¥7.2m salary; JLPT N2. Education 20, career 10 (the five-year tier), salary 25 (the ¥7m band, and above the ¥5m floor for her age), age 10, N2 10. Total 75. She qualifies and can apply for permanent residence after three years. To reach 80 she needs five more points: an N1 certificate (15, replacing N2) is the obvious one, or three first-author papers (15), or a move to a designated employer (+10).

Dr. Adeyemi, 38, postdoctoral researcher. Category (イ); doctorate; eight years of research; ¥6.5m; one patent and three papers. Education 30, career 15, salary 20 (the ¥6m band, above the ¥6m floor at her age), age 5, research 25 because two achievements apply. Total 95. Permanent residence after one year, if the points hold. Note what the cap did: the patent and the papers together are 25, not 40.

Sofia, 45, founder and representative director of a Tokyo company. Category (ハ); master's; twelve years of management; ¥12m; N1. Education 20, career 25, salary 10 (the ¥10m tier of the management scale), position 10, N1 15. Total 80 — and no age points at all. On the (ロ) table the same facts would score 95, because ¥12m earns 40 salary points there. Her category is not a choice: her activity is management, and the (ハ) table is the one that applies. It also now carries the 経営・管理 permission conditions described below.

Where people lose points

The 40th birthday. Age points drop from 5 to 0 and the salary floor jumps from ¥6m to ¥7m. At ¥6.5m, a 39-year-old earns 20 salary points and 5 age points; at 40, the same salary earns neither. Applying at 39 is not a loophole — the rules apply at the date of application — but the cliff is real and worth planning around.

The ¥3m floor in (ロ) and (ハ). A high score does not rescue a salary below ¥3m. This is a qualification condition, not a points row, and it cannot be waived by bonuses.

Patents on the (ハ) table. Founders often assume their patents help. In business management they do not exist as a row. If your role genuinely involves technical work, the (ロ) classification may fit better — but that is a question about the activity, not a tactical choice.

Stacking research achievements. Two achievements in (イ) are 25 points. Applicants sometimes add up 20 + 20 and plan around 40.

N2 plus a Japanese degree. Both are 10, and they do not stack; the N2 row excludes people who already have the Japanese-university points. N1 does stack.

Bonuses that need the employer. Innovation support, SME status, the 3% research ratio and local-government support are documented by the employer, not claimed by the applicant. Ask HR before counting them.

Experience in the wrong field. Career points are limited to experience in the work you will do in Japan. Ten years in another industry may count for nothing on the table you need.

The salary figure itself. Points use the future annual remuneration for the new role, bonuses included. Using last year's payslip, or a base salary that excludes bonus, understates or overstates the case in ways the examiner will notice.

If you run the business: the October 2025 conditions

On 16 October 2025 the 経営・管理 (Business Manager) permission criteria changed, and they bind 高度専門職 1号(ハ) as well, because that status is built on the same activity. The new conditions: capital of at least ¥30m (for a sole trader, the total invested in the business), at least one full-time employee who is Japanese, a special permanent resident, or holds a Table 2 status, Japanese ability at roughly B2 for either the applicant or a full-time employee (JLPT N2, BJT 400+, twenty years of residence, graduation from Japanese higher education, or Japanese compulsory education plus high school), and three years of management experience or a relevant degree. The business plan must be reviewed by a qualified expert — in practice a SME management consultant, certified public accountant or tax accountant.

People already on 経営・管理 or 1号(ハ) get until 16 October 2028 before renewals are judged against the new criteria, though the agency can still weigh the business's conduct and payments.

None of this applies to (ロ). An engineer employed by a company is not asked for ¥30m of capital. The confusion is common because both statuses involve companies; the conditions attach to the activity of running one.

If your salary is high: J-Skip

Since April 2023 there is a second door that skips the table entirely. J-Skip (特別高度人材) grants 高度専門職 to people who meet a simpler test: for (イ) and (ロ), a master's degree or ten years of relevant experience together with an annual salary of ¥20m or more; for (ハ), five years of management experience with ¥40m or more.

J-Skip carries the fuller set of preferences attached to the status and allows permanent residence after one year. If you are near the ¥20m line, it is worth comparing against your points score — above the threshold the arithmetic stops mattering.

What to do next

Score yourself first, in all three categories, and write down the evidence each row needs: degree certificates, employment letters showing the dates and duties, a salary letter, patent certificates, funding notices, paper listings, language certificates, and the employer's confirmation for the bonus rows.

Then confirm the classification with someone who handles these applications for a living. An administrative scrivener (行政書士) can check the activity against the category and the documents against the table. The Immigration Services Agency's own points page and the ordinance are the authority; this article and the calculator are a way to arrive prepared.

One caution that applies to any calculator, including ours: it implements the published table, not your case. The agency decides whether an activity fits a category, whether a qualification counts, and whether a document proves the claim. Treat the number as a planning tool, not a result.